Sword of Omens
by pheonixspike
Summary: Never before done crossover! As a boy, Shinji finds a sword and shield that will forever change the destiny of mankind!
1. Chapter 1

_Here is a story that true fans of the old TV show Thundercats will appreciate. This actually came to me while discussing of plans for a story with 1v2, so I'd like to thank him for giving me the inspiration for this story. I really didn't want to have more than three stories being written at a time, but this one just couldn't wait. It screamed at me to write it, so here it is. I'm going to continue updates on the other stories as well, but probably put them on a rotation to not push myself so hard on them. Also I'm sorry if this first chapter seems a bit fast, but I've never been one to like the slow opening to the series. I'll slow it down after this chapter, but still keep a good pace so that it wont be some 50 chapter monster of a story. Well, I hope you all like it and please review!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or Thundercats._

Sword Of Omens

Chapter 1

New Master

2008

A young Shinji Ikari continued to walk up the mountain close to where his guardians home was. His guardian had chosen to build his house half way up a cliff face. This gave seclusion to both him and Shinji, much to Shinji's unhappiness. Shinji had not gotten along with his guardian and they would continuously clashed. It wasn't that he was a bad guardian, the man just had no idea how to care for a child when Shinji had been dropped off. To top it off, he could not form any emotional connection with the child, as ordered by the boys father. So Shinji had enough, and went to the far top of the cliff.

Shinji gave a sniffle as he looked over the side. "Nobody wants me. All I am is a bother to everyone."

Just as Shinji was about to take a step over the side, forever ending his life, a voice suddenly called out to him.

'**Your wrong, there is always someone for everyone.'**

Shinji jumped up in surprise and looked around in confusion. He saw no one on the cliff with him. "Hello, who's there?"

Suddenly, the ground opened up beneath him and he fell thru, giving a scream. The ground then covered back up, leaving no trace of the boy or the entrance to wherever he fell to.

"Oww… Where am I?" asked a groggy Shinji. He looked around and appeared to be in a cavern of sorts. He then looked around and saw a large iron door in front of him. Seeing as there was nothing but a wall of rock around him, he decided to approach the door. It had a simple design on it and looked rusty and very old. He went to push on it and much to his surprise, the door crumbled to dust and a hole his size was in the door. He stepped thru the hole and came to a grand foyer. It was dark and barely lit, but the boy could make out that there was a symbol of some sort on the floor. He then began to walk around until he tripped over something, landing on the ground.

"Ouch!" he said as he looked at what had tripped him up. There appeared to be some light blue garments, that also adorned the symbol from the floor. Looking at it closer, he could tell that the symbol was round and red, with the head of what looked like the head of a cat on it. Then a shine off an object caught his eye. It was very feint as there was very little light in the room, but it was enough to grab the boy's attention. He picked it up and gasped in awe.

It looked like a golden claw. It was really dirty, but it was no mistaken what it was. The claw tips looked very sharp, like they were still new. There was a hole on the end, which Shinji slipped his arm into. He found it fit much like a glove, and despite it being metal, he could move and manipulate it like his own hand. Then he noticed there was a smaller, yet thin hole at the opening also. He guessed it must have been for something else and looked around the clothes some more till he spotted something. He picked it up and realized he was holding a small sword. He took one of the pieces of cloth and wiped the hilt and noticed that the center of it looked like a cat's eye. He moved the sword over the hole and found it fit perfectly into the slot.

"Wow! Neato!" he exclaimed. He picked himself up and continued to explore the huge room, while still wearing the claw. But as he left, he did not noticed a blue glowing figure that was behind him. The figured gave a smile before fading away.

The boy was overly excited as he explored the place. He found what looked to be a garage, filled with many objects and an awkward looking vehicle. It looked like a cross between a cat and a tank._ 'What is it with cats around here?'_ thought the boy. The boy had not touched anything and left, seeing as he couldn't understand any of the writing on the console of the tank. After more walking, he came to what looked like a command center of some sort. Again, not being able to understand the written language, he did not touch anything. He left and soon found himself at the very top. He saw an exit and noticed he was inside the mouth of a giant cat head. There was solid rock leveled with the opening of the mouth that extended into a tunnel. He peered down the tunnel and saw a light towards the end of it. Still having the claw and the sword, Shinji decided to leave for now and come back later. As soon as he stepped off the cat's mouth the whole cave began to shake. The boy fell forward just as a boulder fell where he was just seconds before. Seeing the cave collapse around him, he ran to the opening for safety. He reached outside to a lip on the cliff and turned back to the cave. He witnessed as the whole cavern caved in, separating him from the place he just discovered. He fell to his knees as his new discovery was lost to the mountain once again.

Then he started to get a warm feeling over him. He looked down and could swear he saw the cat's eye glowing. He pulled out the sword and the feeling grew more. Then he remembered what the voice had said to him. "There is always someone for everyone." Shinji said.

He replaced the sword and followed the trail he was on up to the peek where he had first entered the cavern. He noticed that the hole he fell thru was covered up. Had he not had the sword and claw with him, he would have thought it was a dream. Shinji looked out over the cliff and saw it was getting dark. Deciding to go back, he ran back down the path to his residence.

He managed to make it back to his guardians house just as it was getting dark. He walked inside, only to be confronted by his teacher/guardian. "And just where were you Shinji? It's already dark and you didn't do your chores. If you were to go missing I would get into huge trouble from your father."

The man then spotted the claw on the boys arm. "What is that?"

Shinji held his arm in front of him, "You wouldn't believe it sensei, I fell into this hole and found some ruins. I tripped over this and found it with a sword. But when I left it sealed itself back up."

The man eyed the claw and the top of the sword peculiarly. "Don't lie to me Shinji. Where did you get that? Nobody trips over a sword and gold glove like that."

Before Shinji could protest that he was telling the truth, the teacher grabbed the top of the sword and pulled it out. But just as he was about to inspect it further, the sword gave off a strange sound. Then with a sudden spark, the sword flew off and embedded itself in the wall. The two were frozen at what just happened. The old man went over and grabbed the handle to pull it out. But with all his might he could not even make it budge. As he stepped back, Shinji stepped up to the sword and pulled it out effortlessly. Both looked at the sword as Shinji leveled it flat between the two. A low growl could be heard from the sword as the eye suddenly closed and the symbol that Shinji saw earlier appeared on the sword. Then just as quickly as it appeared, it returned to the normal eye.

Shinji looked up at the old man with excitement. "See sensei, that was the same picture I found at that place. I think something wanted me to find this sword."

He then placed the sword back into the claw and felt the warmth coming from the sword. Somehow, it had just felt right to him to have it with him.

* * *

Present day

"- No lines are currently available. This is a recording."

Shinji hung up the phone and looked around seeing nothing. "This is dumb, I shouldn't have come here." Not liking how everything was deserted, he pulled out his claw shield and sword from his bag. He brought it to his leg as it attached itself to him without harming him. He then looked at the picture of a woman leaning over showing her "assets".

"I guess we won't be meeting here. Maybe I should find a shelter?"

He then looked up and saw a blue haired girl standing in the street. Suddenly, his sword gave a warning sound and he turned to it. He looked back to only find that the girl was gone. He didn't get the chance to wonder about her as he heard a large explosion off into the distance. He turned and saw many VTOLs backing away from a huge monster. He froze as he continued to gaze at the creature. Suddenly two missiles flew over head and then hit the monster. The monster recovered and then struck one of the flying vehicles and sent it crashing next to Shinji. Then it jumped and landed on it, making it explode. Just before the debris could injure Shinji, a blue car swerved in front of him shielding him. The door opened showing the woman from the picture, Misato Katsuragi.

"Sorry, get in. Am I real late?"

Shinji jumped in and they took off. A second later, the monster's foot landed right where they had just been a few seconds ago. After awhile, they had managed to get some distance from the monster as Misato brought the car to a stop. She leaned over the Shinji and looked at it thru some binoculars. She then watched as the U.N. troops back away from the creature. "Now wait a second… No! they're going to use an N2 mine! Get down!"

She threw herself on top of the boy as the flash appeared over the horizon. Just as the shockwave was about to hit the car though, the sword gave a low growl and glowed. A shield protected the car as the shockwave hit. Misato looked up and looked around as they had been untouched. She looked at the boy perplexed. "What just happened? We should have been thrown like rag dolls."

Shinji looked down and saw the glow fade from the sword, "Must be the sword."

Misato looked at Shinji like he had lost his mind. "The sword? A sword couldn't have that. And besides, what are you doing with that?"

Shinji gave a sweet smile at her. "It's rather a long story miss Katsuragi."

She returned the smile to the boy, "Ah, Misato is fine. Miss makes me feel old."

The two then continued their trip to Nerv. Misato then turned to Shinji as the drive had restarted. "So what makes you say that your little tiny toy sword saved us back there?"

Soon a growl could be heard from inside the car. "Sheesh, sorry Shinji, didn't mean to piss ya off."

Shinji gave a small laugh, "Actually Misato, that wasn't me. It was the sword."

He then pulled out the sword and had it leveled flat. another growl was heard, this one from the sword as the eye on the hilt glowed. "See Misato, this sword is magical. It's protected me before and only I can wield it for some reason."

Misato eyed the sword cautiously. Then she turned her attention back to the road and noticed they were about to crash. Giving a yelp, she violently brought the car back onto the right side of the street. Gaining back control, she again turned back to the sword. Little did she know, that sword was forever going to change everyone's lives.

* * *

"Will the chairperson of E project, technical division one, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, please contact captain Misato Katsuragi of operations division immediately."

"I don't believe it, is she lost again?"

Misato and Shinji were currently waiting on the elevator to arrive as they navigated Nerv. They had been currently walking around for almost an hour trying to find there way. Finally, it seemed like Misato knew where she was going. When the elevator opened however, a blonde woman stepped out and glared at the captain. Misato started to stutter and tried her best to smile. "Eh… h-hi there Ritsuko."

The woman continued to glare at the woman. "Why are you wasting my time, captain? Don't you know we're short on time and manpower?"

Misato grimaced, "Sorry."

Ritsuko sighed and turned her attention to the young boy to her right. "So, is this the boy?"

"Right," said Misato, "according to the report, he's the third child."

Ritsuko gave a smile to Shinji, "Please to meet you." she then noticed the sword at his side. _'He's fourteen and still playing with kid toys? Great, this is not going to turn out good. I feel a migraine coming on.'_

All three then entered the elevator and headed for their destination. After a few lifts and a short boat ride, they finally reached it. All three entered a dark room, the only light source was cut off as the door behind them closed. Soon the lights came on and Shinji gasped. In front of him was the face of unit one. Shinji immediately opened the book that Misato had given him and tried to find something about the machine in front of him.

"You won't find this in there." said Ritsuko, "This is man's ultimate fighting machine. The synthetic life form known as Evangelion Unit One. Built here in secret. It is mankind's last hope."

Shinji gave a frown as he looked at it more intensely. "Is this my father's work?"

"Correct!"

Shinji looked up and saw his father looking down on him. Gendo looked down at his son like he was just looking at an object for his use. "It's been awhile."

Shinji looked away and stared at the hilt of his sword. He could start to feel the warmth radiate off the sword to calm him. Gendo gave a sneer as he saw his son look away. "We're moving out."

Misato gave the commander a shocked look. "Moving out? But unit zero is still in cryostasis." she then gave a gasp as it dawned on her. "Wait a minute, your going to use unit one?!"

Ritsuko gave her friend a small nod, "There's no other way."

Misato looked at Ritsuko with fright in her voice. "Now wait, Rei can't do it yet, can she? We don't have a pilot."

Ritsuko continued to look at her, "We just received one."

Now it was Misato's turn to glare. "Your serious."

Ritsuko glanced down to the boy as he continued to look at the sword attached to him. "Shinji Ikari," Shinji was shaken out of his stare as he looked up to the doctor. "You will pilot it."

Shinji turned back to the Eva. _'I can't do this. No way! I just got here!' _But as he thought these thoughts, the warmth grew from the sword and enveloped him. Soon those thoughts began to recede and he could begin to feel courage enveloping him._ 'There's someone for everyone.' _he thought. He continued to stand there and think as the other's in the room began to bicker amongst themselves. Finally, Shinji couldn't take the bickering anymore. "Enough!"

Everyone looked at the child. He then turned to Misato, "Misato, what will happen if I don't pilot?"

Misato gave a pained look. She contemplated on telling a lie how they would get someone more qualified then him, or the nasty truth. She chose the latter. "More than likely, the angel will kill everyone and start third impact. Everyone on the planet will probably die."

Shinji put his hand over the gold claw at his side as he felt it's warmth. He then removed it and handed it to Misato. "Misato, please take care of this. It's very important to me, so whatever you do, keep it safe."

Misato gave a nod, "I promise." she whispered.

Gendo eyed the object. He would make it a point to the child that he was in complete control by destroying his toy in front of him personally. He turned around and started to head back to the bridge. Before Shinji knew it, he was in what they called an entry plug being inserted into the back of the Eva. As he felt the plug come to a rest in the Eva, a strange liquid began to fill the plug. He then started to panic as the liquid was rapidly filling the confined space.

"What? What is this stuff?" he asked as it covered his head. Just as it did, he held a big breath of air in.

Ritsuko then stepped up to the console on the bridge. "Don't worry, once your lungs are filled with LCL, your blood will be oxygenated directly."

No longer able to hold his breath, he let it go and inhaled the liquid. "I-I'm going to be sick…"

"Stop complaining! You're a boy ya know!" yelled Misato. She was currently holding the claw and sword in her hands close to her chest. She couldn't explain why, but it felt right having it near her. She could probably guess that it was whatever this sword was doing that influenced Shinji to accept to pilot.

Then the entry plug was filled with a rainbow of colors. Shinji gasped in awe at the flash of colors before him. Meanwhile on the bridge, they were finishing bringing the Eva online. The bridge tech Maya Ibuki was reading off the status of the unit. "Synchronization ratio at 41.3 percent."

"Amazing." gasped Ritsuko. Maya continued to look over the connections, "Harmonics seem to be normal. I see no disturbances."

Ritsuko smiled at the news, she then turned to Misato to give her the confirmation. "Let's do it!"

Misato returned the smile as she gave a nod. "Begin launch sequence!"

The Eva's restraints were then removed and it was brought over to one of the lifts. Once all the technical procedures were done, the Eva was ready for launch. Misato turned back to the commander, "Can we really do this?"

Gendo just gave a slight nod. He was to busy to thinking of Shinji's bravery. He shouldn't have been able to shout like he had on the catwalk, let alone have the courage to say yes to piloting. He assumed it had to do with the child's toy. Then, a noise could be heard on the bridge. It was nothing like an alarm, but it still brought attention to it. Misato looked around and saw that everyone was looking at her. She then looked down as the sword's eye seemed to be pulsing as the sound came from it. Misato shook her head and gave everyone a look that screamed to get back to what they were doing.

Misato turned back and gave the order. "Eva launch!"

The purple behemoth was launched up the tube with incredible force. The g-forces felt by Shinji made him feel like he was on a bad rollercoaster ride. Finally, the Eva came to a halt and jerked up at the sudden stop. Soon unit one came face to face with the angel. Shinji's fear began to come back to him. Then the final locks were released and the Eva slumped forward. Shinji then heard Ritsuko's voice, "Shinji, concentrate on walking for now."

Shinji could feel himself shake as he willed unit one to take it's first step. The first step went off without any problems, the second one though made him land flat on his face. As Shinji looked up, he could not hear the people talking to him, he could only see the angel tower over him and reach down to grab him. On the bridge the sword's cry became louder as the angel had grabbed the Eva's arm and broke it. Shinji cried out in pain as it had felt as if it was his own arm that was being broken.

The angel picked up the unit and started to slam it's pike into it's head. Smash after smash, the Eva's armor began to crack. Shinji began screaming as it felt like someone was drilling into his right eye. Then to everyone's horror, the pike smashed thru the Eva's head and sent it crashing into a tall building. It's broken arm fell on another building and smashed it in. Blood began to spray from it's head as the bridge crew started to go hectic.

"The pilot is on the verge of passing out!"

"We're losing connections!"

As Shinji began to lose consciousness however. He saw a fuzzy image of a man glowing blue in front of him. Shinji couldn't get a good look at him, as he was on the verge of passing out. Then he heard it. It had the same voice as the one that spoke to him that day when he found the sword.

'**Call to it Shinji. Call the Sword of Omens to you. Command it Shinji. Command it.'**

"Wait…" Shinji whispered. But it was too late, the figure disappeared. Everyone on the bridge turned to the sound of his voice. He held up his hand and gave a whisper. "Sword… of… Omens… come… to… my… hand…"

The sword gave a feint glow at hearing the command. Not noticing the sword, Ritsuko started to yell orders. "Cut the circuits, he's delusional! I want him out of there now!"

Shinji then said it louder, "Sword of Omens… come to… my hand. I… Shinji Ikari, command it."

Just as Ritsuko was about to give more orders to evacuate the pilot, a low growl was heard thru out the bridge. It wasn't very loud, but still very noticeable. Misato looked down and saw that the sword's eye was glowing. She pulled it out of it's sheath and looked at it in awe. Everyone had turned their attention to the sword. Not even Gendo could tear away from it's growl. Then one of the techs noticed something about Shinji, "The pilot's synch ratio has hit 48!"

Shinji then gave the command again, but with a fierce yell. "Sword of Omens! Come to my hand! I, Shinji Ikari, command it!"

The sword emitted a large growl and broke free of Misato's grip. But instead of falling, it floated up and started to spin in the air. It then started to roar and it grew in size as it spinned. It now looked like a rather large sword and the eye changed to a red circle with a shadow of a cat in front of it. It straightened up and floated still for a moment. Everyone gawked at the sword, not knowing what to do. The sword then gave one last roar before it smashed into the ceiling and ripped a hole in it. It continued up and dug thru the geo-front's ceiling before stopping in front of the injured Eva. The angel eyed the object, not knowing what to think of it.

Back on the bridge, a very confused crew started to work on their consoles to try to understand what was going on. Ritsuko shook her head as the sword floated in front of unit one. "I don't know what the hell happened, but whatever it is, that sword isn't going to be any help. It's smaller than the Eva's finger. How is it going to help?"

As if answering her question, the sword once again began to grow. It grew to a height respectable enough for the Eva to wield. Misato poked her friend in the side, who currently was gapping at seeing the sword defy logic. "Hey Ritsuko, you think you can wish us to be billionaires next?"

Unit one grabbed the sword and was suddenly enveloped with a blue energy thru out it's body. It's jaw restraints broke and a roar could be heard as the unit's arm and head were instantly repaired. The roar though was not just the Evangelion's, it was a mixture of it's and Shinji's roar. Everyone looked on as the boy's body became more muscular and toned. His eyes were glowing yellow as the symbol they saw on the sword from earlier glowed red on the center of his chest.

Ritsuko grabbed the shoulder of one of the bridge techs, "Is it berserking?"

The tech shook their head, "Negative, the pilot appears to be in full control."

The Evangelion rose to it's feet and gave another roar. The angel was now concerned. Seeing how his opponent not only came back like nothing happened, but was even stronger now. The angel decided to test his foe. It prepared to fire one of it's blasts at the purple machine. Seeing what was coming, unit one pointed the sword straight at the angel and fired it's own energy at it. Everyone saw the energy leave the sword. It paused in the air for a brief moment, looking like a cats head before the energy continued to it's target. But right before the energy bolt could hit the angel, the angel fired it's blast. Instantly a fire ball engulfed the angel and sent it flying back a mile. It then skidded to a stop and remained laying on the ground, motionless.

The Eva released another roar and started to walk towards the angel. The angel began to stir as it awoke from the pain of having it's own blast blow up in it's face. As it finally stood up, it leered at it's enemy with hate. It learned not to use that attack again, unless it needed to knock itself out. As the Eva approached, the angel decided to use it's strongest weapon. It extended it's A.T. field out and prepared for it.

Maya picked up the A.T. field on her instruments immediately. "Ma'am! The target has extended it's A.T. field! Contact with unit one in twenty seconds! Unit one has not deployed it's field!"

Just as unit one was about to touch the field, the eye in the hilt of the sword glowed a bright red. Then the Eva walked thru the field like it was not even there. Everyone on the bridge was shocked at this. "That's impossible! That sword negated the angel's field!" exclaimed Dr. Akagi.

The angel was just as surprised at seeing the enemy walk thru his field like it was nothing. Enraged at how easily it was being defeated, it charged at unit one. Unit one itself began a charge and brought the sword back to strike. The angel then extended it's right pike out as the Eva brought down it's weapon. Sparks and shards flew everywhere as the angel screamed in agony at it's pike being shattered. Unit one then brought the sword around and sliced off the angel's left arm off. Again it screeched in pain as it took a step back. Unit one then raised the sword between the two and leveled the eye with the red orb of the angel. A surge of energy swirled in the gem right before it launched and cracked the angel's core.

The angel fell on it's back, barely alive. Unit one then reared the sword back and stabbed the core. The sword went in without any seen effort. After one final shriek, the angel slumped back, dead to the world.

As the Eva began to walk back, it began to sway back and forth slightly. Aoba was the first to recover from the shock of the easy defeat of the angel. "Unit one's pilot is starting to slip, synch ratio now at 39. It's now 38 and slipping!"

Unit one fell down to it's knees, all Shinji wanted to do right now was sleep. Unit one lost it's grip on the sword and it hit the floor causing a good size crater. After a few seconds of just lying there, it began to shrink to it's normal form. Soon after, the Evangelion crashed into the ground as Shinji passed out from exertion.

* * *

_And that ends the first chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it and I know it felt a little rushed at parts but I really hate the slowness of the first episode. It just always seemed to drag on, but I promise that the rest of the story will be slowed down a bit. Also, there will be no mutants in this crossover or any other villains with the exception of one. And fans of the show will know exactly who that villain is already. Please review to let me know what you think and I'll try to update ASAP!_


	2. Chapter 2

_I'd like to thank everyone for their support for this story! I decided to go ahead and give an early update for this due to it's popularity. Like I say for many of my stories, the more reviews I get, the more I write! This chapter actually gives a slight view as to what happened to the Thundercats. A further explanation of what happened will be later on in the story. I hope you all continued to enjoy this story, so please review!_

Chapter 2

The New Lord

Shinji gave a roar as he floated in the LCL. He was enveloped in blue energy and could feel the heat from the symbol of his chest. As he continued to roar, he found he was not in control of his body. As this continued, the voice once again let itself be known.

'**Command it Shinji. Command it.'**

Shinji then gave a gasp as he awoke from his dream. He looked around and noticed he was in a hospital bed. He sat up and gripped his head. "Was all that… a dream?"

He then remembered the symbol that glowed on his chest and he got up from the bed. He walked over to a mirror that was in the room and opened the hospital gown to see the symbol tattooed on his chest. He also noticed how his muscles were now bigger and looked like he had been working out for most his life. He traced the symbol on his chest. It was bright red, just like on the sword. "What happened to me?"

'**It was the Sword of Omens Shinji.'**

Shinji gasped and turned around to see a blue glowing figure standing in front of him. He was scared stiff as he looked over the man. He wore a chest piece that attached to a cloak and had a belt that showed the same symbol. He was very muscular and had his hair stick up like a wild mane. He was completely blue and was almost transparent as the figure gave a warm smile to the boy. Shinji could tell that the figure was not human, even without looking like a ghost. Despite being filled with fear, Shinji managed to find his voice. "W-who are you?"

The figure continued to give a smile as he responded to the boy, **'I am Lion-o, the last lord of the Thundercats. I was the last one to wield the Sword of Omens, before you found it Shinji.'**

Shinji began to shake in fear, for he thought he must have unleashed a ghost taking the sword. But he wondered why a ghost would look to be happy seeing the person they were haunting.

'**Fear not Shinji, I mean you no harm. In fact, I am here to help you.'**

Shinji started to calm down from hearing this. "So… you've come here to get your sword back?"

Lion-o shook his head and approached the lad. Shinji took a step back instinctively as the figure was now a foot away. **'No Shinji. The sword is no longer mine. It is now yours. As is the title, of the new lord of the Thundercats.'**

Shinji looked up at the man perplexed. Being so close, he took a closer look at Lion-o and noticed his eyes had the same qualities as a cat. Now that he looked at him closer, he resembled much like a human/cat hybrid. "Umm, How can I be, what you called it? A Thundercat? It's kinda obvious that your not human. I can't be a lord of something I'm not."

Lion-o gave a hearty laugh. **'No Shinji, a Thundercat is not a race. I am Thunderian, yes. But a Thundercat is a status of a fighter of good. You do not need to be a Thunderian Shinji. The sword has chosen to make you a Thundercat Shinji, as is proof of that symbol on your chest.'**

Shinji looked down and saw the symbol give off a light glow. He looked up and was confused as to what Lion-o was saying to him. "So I'm not human anymore?" he asked in a scared voice.

Lion-o gave another laugh, **'No Shinji, you are still a human. Think of it as a status or label. Being a Thundercat means you are a protector of all that is good. I will forever be with you Shinji, I will help guide you and aide you in your fight to protect all. I will also expose the secrets of the Sword to you also.'**

Shinji immediately gasped. "The sword!"

Lion-o raised his hand to calm the young one. **'It is safe for now Shinji. But you will need to reacquire it. Remember this Shinji, the sword can never be wielded by those with evil intent in their heart. Remember that Shinji…'**

The spirit of Lion-o then disappeared right before Shinji's eyes. Shinji blinked and waved his hand where the ghostly spirit was and could feel the same warmth as the sword gave off. He then decided to leave the room and have a look around. As he opened his door, a girl was being rolled by in a hospital bed. Looking down at her, he noticed that the girl was the same one he saw in the street before the angel attacked. She was bandaged up and had a cast on her arm. As she rolled by, she looked over at him and made eye contact with him. He could feel her loneliness as he stared into her red eyes. As she was continued down the hall, Shinji knew he would have a connection with her. He then could feel the sword close by. Deciding to go for the sword was the first priority, he went back to his room so he could change.

* * *

Misato gave a sigh as she entered the laboratory to find her friend. She was surprised that her friend hadn't been on sight and examining the angle for all it's worth. Instead, she had the sword brought down to the lab and was currently putting all her resources into studying it instead. The captain finally found her friend leaning over a table. As she neared it, she saw that the sword was on the table, it was surrounded by many scientific instruments. She snuck up behind the blonde scientist to surprise her, but it backfired as the woman suddenly spoke up. "Trying to sneak up on me? Really Misato, haven't you grown up past that?"

The purple haired woman almost fell at hearing her friend. "Aww… your no fun. Besides, all work and no play…"

She didn't get to finish as the door opened showing the commander. Upon seeing the man, Misato thought it be wise to not continue that phrase. Gendo Ikari walked in and approached the two woman. "Doctor, any conclusions as to what this thing is?"

Ritsuko flipped her hair as she picked up a clip board. "Well commander, it's definitely a sword. But the characteristics defy all logic and theories. First off, both it and the sheath are constructed of minerals that are not even known. The best theory is that whatever created this sword, didn't do it on earth."

Misato took a sidestep and raised an eyebrow at hearing this. "Wait, so your saying that aliens made this and dropped it off here?"

Ritsuko just gave a sigh at her friends response. "For the alien part, it's the only theory I can come up with. Some of the components in the sword have never been seen before on earth. Also it's power source is a mystery too. It appears to come from the gem in the hilt of the sword. If our estimates are correct, it could produce more power than an S2 organ."

Misato gave a whistle at hearing this. Even Gendo gave a concern look. The thought that his son could have this power at his whim and not him unnerved him. He had to find a way to control it. "Can we manipulate it doctor?"

Ritsuko gave a frown and a shake of her head. "So far, no. We can't melt the sword down unless we send it deep into a volcano or such. We can't even analyze the gem correctly, as it overloads and destroys any equipment we scan it with. Even the Magi was almost fried when it tried to do a preliminary scan of the gems surface. Our only chance at understanding it is probably going to be thru the third child."

Gendo gave a snarl at hearing this. No doubt this would affect his scenario, how much though remained to be seen. Just as he was about to leave, the eye of the sword seemed to glow as the door he came thru opened up. Standing there was Shinji himself as he entered the lab. The adults were confused as the door could only be opened with a keycard with a certain clearance, and Shinji did not have it on his. Gendo turned around and stared at his son with his best glare. "Why are you here? You are not authorized to be here. Leave now or I'll have you incarcerated."

Shinji looked to his father and frowned. Looking past him, he saw Misato, Ritsuko, and more importantly, his sword. "I'll leave but only with my sword."

Gendo's scowled at the boy in front of him. "It is no longer yours. Nerv has taken custody of it, now leave."

The boys features darkened. "And how are you going to wield it? It won't obey or listen to you father."

Gendo's scowl grew deeper, how dare this boy challenge him. "It is merely a tool, an object. It does not choose it's master, I'll prove it." He then walked to the table and went to pick it up. Before Ritsuko could warn him that it might not be a good idea, he picked it up. In an instant, the sword ripped itself from his hand and embedded itself into the floor. He went down and grabbed the hilt. The sword began to give off the same warning sound it did on the bridge as Gendo tried with all his might to pull it out. He finally let it go and gave a growl. "Doctor! What's going on?!"

Before Ritsuko could say anything, Shinji then spoke up. "Sword of Omens! Come to my hand!"

The swords eye glowed and it gave off a growl as it launched itself at Shinji. Extending his hand, the sword landed in his palm. The moment it landed in his hand, it grew to it's full size and the symbol reappeared on the center of the gem. Everyone but Misato had taken a step back at seeing this. Gendo then stepped up to the boy, but he did so with apprehension. "Surrender that sword immediately. If you don't, I will not hesitate to have deadly force used against you."

Shinji felt the swords warmth, he would not back down. "No. First off, I'm your pilot for your Evangelion. Second, even if you were to kill me, the sword will not allow itself to be used by you, no matter what. And I think you would rather have a pilot wielding this sword against your enemies, rather than have no pilot and possibly fighting against the sword. I'm going back to the waiting room of the hospital."

Shinji then turned and left. Everyone was in shock that a child had just said no to the commander. Gendo growled at the retreating figure, but before he could make the call on his cell phone to incapacitate the child, Ritsuko spoke up.

"He's got a point. Even though we might not understand that sword one bit, I'd rather have it on our side. It might be best to appease the child for now sir."

Gendo gave a glare to the doctor, unfortunately, she was right. "Very well doctor, we'll keep him under close surveillance."

Misato the gave a smirk, "If I may sir, I have an idea…"

* * *

Shinji sat in the waiting room, looking at the sword. He learned to shorten it back to normal, and had been practicing changing it back and forth for awhile now. Confident that he had this skill under control, he went to put his sword away when he noticed he forgot something. But before he went to back to the lab to get his claw shield back, it landed right on his lap. He looked up and saw Misato giving him a smile. "Thought you might have wanted that back."

Shinji gave a smile and a nod, "Thank you Misato."

As he went to put the claw on, Misato continued. "Your father wanted to have you imprisoned for that little stunt back there. But rather than have you in a cell, I convinced him I would take you home with me to live. I gave the lame excuse that it'll keep you under constant surveillance."

Shinji eyed the woman oddly. "So your taking me in just to keep an eye on me?"

Misato shook her head, sending her hair in all different directions. "Na, I just needed an excuse. To be honest, there's just something that just clicked. I don't know why, but something just told me too."

Shinji gave a smile at the kind woman. First she had picked him up and saved him from getting squashed by the third angel. Now she's willing to take him in. "Well then Misato, let's go home."

* * *

Shinji and Misato were finally reaching the apartment carrying many groceries. Shinji was still tired from his ordeal, as he had pushed himself hard to defeat the angel. As they neared the apartment, the sword gave off a warning sound. Shinji drew the sword as Misato looked at the child like he was going crazy. He saw the look he was getting from her, "It's the sword warning call. There's something not right."

Misato gave a chuckle, "Oh come on Shinji, there's nothing wrong. Just come on in, we've had a long day." She opened the door and walked in, with Shinji following closely. Upon seeing the inside, he froze. "Now I know what the sword was warning me about… Look at this mess!"

This earned a growl from Misato, "It's not that bad!"

All that she got for a response was a loud growl from the sword. "Hey! Watch it or I'll use you as a butter knife!"

* * *

Shinji now laid on his futon, tracing the outline of the tattoo on his chest. He couldn't get over how disgusting of a slob Misato was. Grant it she was a great person, but how was it possible for her to create all that. After cleaning up, he finally managed to get all the trash out as Misato had finished dinner. He couldn't believed she survived on that. The sword had given another warning as he was about to take the first bite but he ignored it. Now, he wished he had used the sword to destroy the vile construction of a meal. Then there was when he had met the penguin…

He had went to take a bath after the humiliating defeat of rock, paper, scissors for the chores. Upon opening the bathroom door however, he came face to face with a penguin. Not realizing he was naked, he ran to Misato about it. That's when she told him that Penpen was his other roommate. Needless to say, he was really embarrassed as she then pointed out that he was naked in front of her. So now he was laying on his futon, thinking over what had happened. "Why am I here?"

'**That is a good question Shinji.'**

The boy sat up and saw the blue figure of Lion-o standing before him. "Lion-o, your back."

The figure gave a smile and a nod, **'I will always be with you Shinji. Every leader of the Thundercats has always had someone like me to guide them and help them along till they are no longer needed.'**

Shinji pondered this for a moment. "Then that means you had someone to help you too?"

Lion-o gave another nod. **'Yes Shinji, He was the greatest Thundercat of all.'**

Shinji's eyes went wide at hearing this. "Wow."

Lion-o stepped closer to the boy, **'I see you got back the sword, good. As the new lord of the Thundercats, it is one of the most important things to you.'**

Shinji then cast his eyes down. "I-I don't think I could be the lord of your Thundercats Lion-o. Isn't there someone more qualified than me? I'm not courageous like a warrior should be. I'm a coward, and weak. If it wasn't for the sword, I probably would have died fighting the angel."

The ghostly figure gave a sad frown at hearing the lad. He knelt down to look the young boy in the eyes. **'Shinji, I'm going to tell you a story. One of a young lad, younger than you technically, that became the lord of the Thundercats.'**

Lion-o then began to tell the story of the planet Thundera being destroyed. On how the Thundercats had escaped to this very planet back when humans lived as treetop warriors. A time when there was still dragons and unicorns running about. He told Shinji how the boy had been aged while in a time capsule, but never aged past a ten year old mentally.

Shinji had been enthralled in the story. "Wow, he had it as bad as I did. What was his name?"

Lion-o gave a slight chuckle. **'You already know his name Shinji.'**

Shinji gave a gasp, "No way! You? But it couldn't be. I mean, your strong and don't act like it at all."

Lion-o stood up as he gave another smile to the boy. **'I didn't always act like it at first. I had still acted much like a child at first. I had to grow up very fast and missed most of my childhood. I only hope that you do not miss yours Shinji. But getting back to your question, think back to what Misato had told you when you were standing in front of that machine. Then ask it again, and I think you'll find your answer. Till the next time you need me, may you rest well.'**

Just as Lion-o flicked his cape to disappear, Misato had opened the door. She was going to tell Shinji on what a good and noble job he had done when she had heard another voice other then Shinji's in the room. "Shinji, what's go-"

She instantly froze as she saw the blue figure disappear. She couldn't say anything as she turned to look at Shinji. "What… the hell… was that?"

Shinji stood up and looked almost relieved. "You saw him too Misato? You saw Lion-o?"

Misato looked at the boy with a mix of fear and confusion. "Lion-o? Ok, kitchen, now."

They were now both sitting at the kitchen table as Shinji was ending his story of what Lion-o told him. Misato had drowned four beers during the whole thing, wanting to not believe that there was now a ghost in her apartment. "So, your suppose to be the new lord of these lightningcats?"

Shinji gave a sigh, "Thundercats Misato, And Supposidly yes. I don't know how seeing as not only am I not one of them, but there doesn't seem to be anymore of his kind left."

Misato took another drink of her beer. Magical swords, hidden ruins, ghosts, and an alien species. She felt like she was in some horribly filmed sci-fi movie. "Well, don't worry about it then. Yea you're a lord, but a lord of a long dead race? Yea, you'll have a lot to do let me tell ya."

Shinji looked at the table in contemplation. "I don't know Misato, Lion-o said that being a Thundercat was more like a title. So what if humans can become Thundercats? Then I'll be leading a bunch of heroes? I-I don't know if I can do it."

Misato opened another beer. "Hey! Like I said, don't worry about it. No one can turn into a cat human hybrid thingy, ok?"

"But Misato, Lion-o said…"

Misato interrupted Shinji as she slammed her beer can on the table. "Who cares what Lion-o said. First, he's dead and I'm living, so I know what's better for ya. Second, he's an ex-lord of a dead race, while I'm the captain of the greatest organization on earth! And I'm the tactical officer to boot! And last but not least, I said so!"

Shinji eyed his new guardian awkwardly. "I don't know Misato…"

Misato sat back and waved her hand, letting Shinji to go now. "Trust me on this kiddo. Tell ya what, I'll have Ritsuko look into the ruins. We'll see if we can find them and learn what we can. Till then, it's off to bed for ya."

Shinji got up reluctantly, but headed for his bed. Misato soon followed suit as she finished her beer. She still couldn't get over what she had seen just earlier. Despite only getting a glimpse, she saw that the ghost was well built and looked like he could give any professional fighter a fright. The cloak that he had used to disappear with looked smooth and his hair reminded her of a lion's mane. Seeing as his name was Lion-o, she could see the connection. What had her slightly worried was that he had a symbol in the middle of his belt. It was the same as the one discovered on Shinji and the sword. She just hoped Shinji wouldn't be dragged into some supernatural cult or such.

She then settled into her bad for sleep.

* * *

Half way across the world, a red headed girl sat straight up from her nap. She was panting hard as she just had a dream that gave her a fright. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she began to recall the dream. She remembered in her dream that she was standing in a large room. It had looked like a command center of sorts, but it had people running around that were not human. They had looked like a cross of humans and cats. One that had her attention looked much like a cheetah and was standing in the center of the room. The woman was focused on looking at the main screen in the command center. It showed some large fiery object getting larger with a background color of sky not like earth. Then, the cat woman turned around and looked directly at her. She looked to her left and right and confirmed that the woman was indeed looking at her. Then she heard the woman's voice and felt a chill run down her spine.

"Asuka, you must now protect the Lord of the Thundercats."

Suddenly, the whole room seemed to erupt in fire and the girl felt like her skin had caught on fire. She had woken up right after and looked down to her hand. She saw that the whole skin seemed red and was turning back to it's normal color. "What was that? And what's a Thundercat?"

She gave up trying to figure it out as she heard her name being called out over the PA system. She then headed to the locker room to change for her afternoon synch test.

* * *

"I'm telling you Ritsuko, it was a ghost."

"Right Misato… next your going to tell me there's some ruins somewhere that connects it all together."

Misato stared at her friend and started to rub her arm. Ritsuko turned from unit ones training simulator to look at her friend. "Your kidding? Right?"

Misato gave a heavy sigh. "Nope, Supposidly that's where Shinji got his sword from. If we can find these ruins, then maybe we can figure out what's going on? Or at least do some research."

Ritsuko shook her head. "I can't believe this, you want me to go off on some wild goose chase for an alien race that no one had any knowledge that existed here? C'mon Misato."

Misato just gave a sigh. She knew there was a good chance that Ritsuko wouldn't bite. "Look, I'm not asking for an all out excavation, just some light investigation. It would put me to rest a bit, especially after seeing the ghost and having that weird dream."

Ritsuko looked back at her friend. "Dream? What dream?"

Misato just gave a scowl, "Promise not to laugh or have me submitted to the mental ward?"

Ritsuko gave a chuckle, "I promise Misato. I won't make fun of you or try to have you submitted for mental help. So go ahead and shoot."

Misato went over to the console and sat down next to her. She gave a sigh and shuttered at the thought of retelling the dream. "Well, I was in some sort of command center. It was large and the main screen showed some plains or such. But that wasn't the problem. There was a guy in the middle of the room. He looked like a mix of a person and a tiger. He was standing in front of this nasty looking person. The guy had a giant red cape and looked as ugly as a bug. The thing had fire for it's eyes and was at least twice the size of the tiger man. He had this horrible bad guy cackle and a symbol like two snakes intertwined on his chest. The tiger guy then turned around like he was going to run away, but he then looked right at me. He said 'protect the lord', like he was talking right at me. Then he suddenly was turned to ashes as the other one fired something out of his hand. The poor guy was vaporized. The ugly guy didn't see me though and even walked thru me. I think the tiger meant Shinji, to protect Shinji at all costs."

Ritsuko looked at her friend with a worried glance. She knew her friend couldn't be making this stuff up. And seeing how the gem from the sword showed both a cats eye and a cats head, she couldn't rule out that it was connected. "Maybe it has something to do with Shinji's sword? Being in such close proximity for a length of time might be causing hallucinations of sort. Either way, if we ever run an operation close to Shinji's old guardian's residence, we'll investigate a little. Where was that again?"

"He lived close to mount Futago."

Ritsuko gave a nod to her friend. "Sorry Misato, but it's the best I can do for now. We'll see if there is a chance to go there. Until then, take it easy and don't overly strain yourself. Doctor's orders."

* * *

_I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! I know many people will frown at the hints of what happened to them, but it's the base of the plot however. But even with this, I'll give everyone a little light at the end of the tunnel: not all the Thundercats had perished. I got a little treat for everyone, but it's not going to happen till later. So if you want to find out, keep reading and reviewing!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Finally, an update! Sorry that I haven't been able to update regularly, but this little thing called life is kicking my ass right now…_

_I am glad with all the reviews and responses for this story, and I hope not to disappoint. There is an important announcement at the bottom of the chapter considering the next update for the story, so please read up on it. Otherwise, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! And please review!_

Chapter 3

Evil Lives!

Shinji gave a sigh as he headed to his school. It was his second week of school, and so far the only people he got to talk to was the class rep. and bullies. He looked up and saw the school gates and trudged forward. There weren't many people left going to this school ever since the angel battle. Most people had already left, not wanting to be involved in the angel war. He couldn't blame them really, even he wanted to leave badly. But every time he would gather up his cowardness and prepare to run away, he would remember the last time he had talked with Lion-o. He remembered how he had told his story and his hardships and didn't run away. Then he would steel himself to remain, to fight for humanity.

Before he reached the front door however, three people jumped in front of him and blocked his path. "Hey there Ikari, where ya think your going?"

Shinji looked up and saw one of the bullies he would run into consistently. Shigo, a student that had been held back a few times, had been on him since day one. The first day, he had demanded that Shinji hand over his sword and sheath. Since he would not go to school without his sword, Nerv acquired special permission for him to have it during the school day. He would always wear it on his side, never taking it off except for a quick change for gym class. In fact, all the bullies he had confronted seemed to want his sword. They seemed to have an unhealthy attraction to it.

Shinji gave another sigh as he knew what was going to happen. He would run to the small gap that was between two of the school buildings and go in thru the back way. It didn't bother him to run from bullies, as he was vastly in shape from the sword and could out run anyone in gym with ease. So he took off running, what he didn't see was the bully give a smirk as Shinji ran his normal escape route. Within moments, he was running thru the small secluded path. As he was getting ready to reach the open area from the gap he was currently running thru, he was suddenly cut off by three other students. He slid to a stop and turned to run the way he came as he saw four more block his path. He cursed as he realized he had fallen into a trap. Shigo then came into view as he walked past the four students blocking his path. "Ha! Look who's the smart one now Ikari. Your not getting out of this one. When we get that sword, we're going to split the money when we sell it."

This earned a growl from the boy as he prepared to draw his sword. He never had wanted a confrontation, but he saw he was going to be forced this time. Then he looked up and noticed different pipes and parts of the two buildings sticking out. He let the handle from his sword go and stood up straight with a smile. "You know, you wouldn't be able to beat me if you forced me to fight. But it looks like I won't be fighting you after all." he then pointed up, "You forgot to cut off the roof."

Then with a roar, Shinji jumped up ten feet and grabbed a windowsill, he then began leaping to ledges and pipes, reaching the roof effortlessly. The students at the bottom could only stare on in shock as the boy leapt like he was a cat onto the roof. Shigo took a few steps towards where the boy had been standing, "What the hell is he?"

After finding an entrance into the school from the roof, Shinji began to make his way to his class. He entered the classroom well before the last bell and noticed that the girl he saw in the hospital was sitting by the window. She still had on her cast and her eye still had a bandage over it. He saw that she was currently looking out the window, not paying any heed to the class. He headed over to her desk and stood next to it, trying his best to make a conversation. "Umm… hi."

The girl turned to him, giving a blank look to the young man. Both she and Shinji said nothing and continued to just look at each other. Shinji began to feel uncomfortable as the girl wouldn't say anything. "Umm… I'm Shinji Ikari, I saw you when I was at the hospital in Nerv."

Again, he was met with only silence. As he turned around and was about to walk away, the girl had finally spoken up. "I am Rei Ayanami, the first child."

Shinji turned back to the girl, but he before he could continue the scarce conversation the last bell rang. He gave a smile to the girl and walked off to his desk. Before he sat down though, a student he hadn't seen before entered and was greeted by a couple of his classmates. He didn't pay attention to the conversation that was going on though, as he was deep in thought._ 'Rei Ayanami, the first child? I remember they called me the third child, so she must be a pilot too. But if I'm the third and she's the first, then who's the second?'_

* * *

"Achoo! Great, first the dream, then the rash, now I'm getting a cold. What's next? My hair falling out?"

The girl known as Asuka Langley Soryu was currently standing in front of a mirror examining herself. She kept having the same reoccurring dream at least once a night the past two weeks, and it was starting to annoy her. Then yesterday, she discovered what appeared to be a rash just above her left breast. What had confused her was that it seemed to be a perfect circle and didn't spread. It didn't itch or irritate her beyond the fact her perfect body was defaced by this rash. She just gave a huff as she applied more rash lotion to it, hoping it would eventually go away.

* * *

As class neared the end of the morning, Shinji had begun to nod off due to the teacher's rambling of the second impact. Just before he lost his battle with sleep though, a beep from his laptop brought him out of his pending sleep. He looked at it and saw that he had received a message. It asked if it was true that he was the pilot of the robot. Shinji began to wonder whether or not he should answer truthfully. When he then received another message prompting him to answer he decided to tell the truth. After he typed his answer, he immediately regretted it. Somehow the entire class had seen his answer and were all over him, begging for information and such.

"How were you selected?"

"We're you put through any tests?"

"Is that sword you carry around related to it?"

Shinji could feel himself slide down into his chair, trying his best to disappear. "Why did I say yes…?"

* * *

Meanwhile, halfway across the globe, a feeble looking man was just finishing a meeting. Very few people knew he existed, but the ones that did were very powerful with high worldly influences, and they all feared him but one. The only one that did not fear him was agitating him right now. He glared at Gendo Ikari as the man smugly glared back. _'If I didn't need this pitiful man, I'd be done with him long ago.'_

"This meeting is adjourned for now. But remember Ikari, we put you where your at. If we suspect betrayal, we will remove you."

The man continued to stare back and even gave a taunting smile. "My allegiances are with the committee, I assure you. It is you that better not betray me."

Then the image of Gendo Ikari, as well as the rest of the SEELE committee faded away. The one known as Lorenz Keel, got up from the desk and looked around the room he was in. It was a simple, metallic room with a single desk and door. The man then took off the visor he wore to hide his red, pupil-less eyes, and tossed it onto the desk. He then approached the door and it slid open, opening to a dark and damp chamber. As he walked in, he gave a look to his once glorious chamber. The four statues that adorned the sides were now ruble, as was what use to be a sarcophagus. The cauldron in the center was a putrid brown, as slime and algae claimed most of the water surface. The only thing that looked to be in one piece, was a small stone slab that rested between the cauldron and the crushed sarcophagus. As he slowly approached the slab, he ran a hand along it's surface. He gave a snarl at the memory of what the cost was to rid the universe of his greatest foes. The cost was so high, that he sometimes wondered if it was truly worth the sacrifice.

Then he remembered of the blasted sword that plagued him and brought an end to many of his plans. No, it was worth the sacrifices made. But it would not matter anyhow, soon his plans would come to pass. Soon, humanity will be wiped off his planet. And soon, he would be restored to his former glory…

* * *

Shinji dodged another punch that came from a kid wearing a black track suit. No, today was surely not his day. "So, why is it…" Shinji leaned back as another punch failed to connect, "That you're trying to take my head off?"

The boy throwing the punches began to pant from exhaustion. He threw another punch at the pilot turned lord. "You and that stupid robot of yours hurt my sister."

This surprised Shinji and made him come to a stop. The boy took this pause to his advantage as he threw another punch. Moving on instinct, Shinji managed to catch the boy's fist in his hand. Giving a gasp of surprise, the boy threw his other fist which was also caught by Shinji. As the two boys began their power struggle, a small group began to form around them. One among the group was the blue haired girl that Shinji had tried to befriend. As the two began to circle each other in a deadlock, she couldn't help but stare at Shinji's stature. Even though he would not move forward, he stood defiantly up to the other student with pride and strength. It was as if he was a proud, noble leader. Almost like a knight or a lord. That's when she gasped and her eyes widened as she recalled a dream she had the other night…

Rei had opened her eyes and saw she no longer had her bandages on. She looked around and also noticed that she was no longer on earth. Before she could say anything, a voice caught her attention from behind.

"This is new Thundera."

She turned around and saw the back of a blue man, standing silently next to a vehicle of sorts. She noted that he had a harness on that was adorned with spikes and he was bald. His ears were not of human shape and he was well built. He then turned around and she then noticed that he a lot of cat features. Then the man looked up to the sky and as she followed his gaze, she gave a quiet gasp. Hurling toward the planet was a huge fireball of some kind. It's destination appeared to be a giant looking fortress in the shape of a cat that was off to the horizon. Then the man turned back to her and knelt down so that he was now eye level with her.

"Rei, you must protect the Lord of the Thundercats."

Before she could say anything to protest about not knowing any lords, he held up his hand to silence her.

"You will know him when you see him. He will be like you, a protector of all. Help him, guide him. For in that, you will find another purpose than what yours is now."

As he said that, he stood up and began to slowly walk forward towards the building. Rei watched as she pondered what his words had meant. "Purpose?" she whispered.

She looked up as the giant fireball then engulfed the fortress as the man continued to walk. Soon, a wave of fire started to approach them from the impact site. As she felt the fire engulf her, she managed to hold on long enough to get one last look to where the man had been. To her surprise, the man was still walking as his body was slowly being vaporized by the fire. His arms were turned to dust while he still continued to walk. That was when everything became dark for her as she awoke to find herself in her bed.

_**PING!**_

Ayanami was broken from her memory as she saw that Toji and Shinji were now back to back, facing off against several other students. She blinked in surprise as she realized she had missed out in something big. Toji had a metal pipe in his hands as Shinji was wielding his sword with his hand gloved by the claw. The other students around them also had various metal pipes and eyed the sword in Shinji's hands as if it were made of gold. Then she noticed a girl step out from the crowd. It was one of the girls that had always thought that the universe should revolve around her. "C'mon Ikari, just give us the sword. Even splitting it with ten others, I can still have enough for a down payment on a car. So be nice and I might give you a ride in a few years."

Shinji just growled at the girl in response. Rei then saw Suzahara turn his head and whisper something to the boy. After receiving a nod, the jock then charged and tackled one of the boys and began a struggle with him. That left Shinji to fend off against five others as they all charged him. Rei was about to charge in and try her best to protect him when a voice caught her attention.

'**Not yet Rei, you will only hamper him.'**

Rei blinked and looked around, noting that it was the same voice as the man from her dream. But her search was cut short as a large roar that belonged to Shinji brought her back to his fight. Shinji jumped and flipped over a pipe that one of the students swung at him. Shinji then parried a pipe with his sword as he blocked another with his shield as he landed. He turned around as the last pipe was being brought down over his head. Managing to catch it in his shielded hand, Shinji gave another roar as he broke the pipe in his hand. Shinji then caught sight of a pipe coming from behind and managed to duck as it went over his head. Unfortunately, the pipe managed to catch the hilt of the sword and knocked it free.

The sword happened to land right in front of the same girl that gave the bold statement from earlier. She eyed it with a smile as she bent over and picked it up. It felt surprisingly heavy in her hands as she used all her strength to lift it up to her eye level. The fight had actually came to a stop as all had eyed the girl. Shinji then took this moment to get himself space by jumping away from the crowd. Once free, he glared at the girl as his eyes suddenly glowed. The girl was then enveloped in what looked to be blue electricity and she gave a shriek. Her hair was standing at odd angles as she tried her best to hold on to the sword. Finally giving in to the shock treatment she was receiving, she threw the sword away from her. But the sword did not fall to the ground as it flew up in the air in an arc towards Shinji. As Shinji grabbed the sword, he swung it and it grew to it's full size.

"Ho!" he yelled as he now held the full grown sword over his head with his two hands. A light began to swirl around him and as he took steps to the offending students, they began to cower in fear. A few more steps and the students then ran off in complete fear for their lives. As the last student left, he willed the sword back to it's short stature and returned it to it's sheath. But before he could see if the other boy was alright, Rei had approached him as she just put away her cell phone.

"I just received an emergency call. I will go on ahead." With that, Rei took off running towards Nerv.

"Well, looks like we can't finish our little "conversation" till after. Just you better come back in one piece." Shinji turned back to the boy that he had started to fight but then allied himself with. The boy was sporting a swollen lip as he stood there with his arms crossed. Shinji gave a smirk and nod before following his fellow pilot.

* * *

Unit one was standing behind a building while it waited on the angel appeared. The angel had looked like a giant leech or parasite that had what appeared as two giant whip like arms. Shinji was not happy that he was forced to take a pallet rifle to face the angel instead of his sword. "Why is it again that I can't use my sword? I don't think this rifle will be able to do what the sword can."

Shinji peered around the building and took in the sight of the angel. He would definably feel better knowing that he had his sword with him. Then he heard the doctor's voice come over the radio. "It's because we aren't clear to what your sword can and can't do. We don't know what would happen if it came into contact with this angel or if it will even do what it did last time, it could have been a fluke."

Soon after she said that, Shinji could hear the sword's growl in the background. He gave a sigh knowing that at least for now, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. He just hoped that the sword can reach him when he called for it. Sure it was on the bridge in Misato's hands like last time, but he wasn't sure if it could pull it off again. Then he heard Misato's voice come over the radio. "Develop an A.T. field just like the plan, ok?"

Shinji gave a nod as he took a gulp in. he then willed the Eva around the building and cut loose a barrage of ire, covering the angel in smoke. "Fool! You've covered it in your smoke!"

Before Shinji could respond, two tentacle whips lashed out, making him fall over as his rifle was shredded to bits. The next few minutes, all Shinji could do was dodge the two whips the best he could. Misato's voice was heard once again over the radio system, "I'm giving you a reserve rifle, take it!"

A weapon storage shot up next to him and opened up, exposing another rifle. But before Shinji could grab it, the whips shredded the storage and smacked his Eva backwards. Shinji then saw that his timer turned on as when he was smacked, the umbilical cable got wrapped around a building and was ripped out when he was sent flying. The display showed he only had under five minutes before his power would run out. Shinji gave a snarl as the angel began to approach him slowly, almost as if it was mocking him. "That's it! I've had enough! Misato! Throw the sword in the air now! Sword of Omens! Come to my hand!"

Just as Shinji gave the command for his sword, Misato unsheathed the sword and threw it up in the air. The sword the righted itself and smashed through the ceiling again, making a fresh hole next to the patched up hole. Ritsuko began to tug at her hair as the sword left a new gaping hole. "Damn it! Not another one!"

Back on the surface, two boys had just snuck out of the shelter they had been in. As the smaller one with glasses video taped the battle, the other looked more annoyed than anything else. "C'mon Kensuke, Let's get back in before the class rep. finds us."

Kensuke turned around and then began to shake, as a young girl he grew to fear was suddenly behind Toji. "Uhh… Toji, I think we might be a little late to for that." Noticing his friend's uneasiness, Toji slowly turned around and came face to face with Hikari Horaki. But before anything else was said, a loud crash was heard as the Eva had been knocked down a block from where they were.

Kensuke resumed video taping, noticing the cable was no longer attached to the robot. "Hey guys, the plug that was in that robot is gone. I think it's losing." Then the three witnessed as the machine held out it's hand, as though it was waiting for something. "Is it giving up?" asked the boy as he continued rolling the tape.

As if answering his question, a loud crash was heard as debris flew from the ground in front of the Eva. A small object could be barely seen in front of the machine. But before any of the three could ask what it the object was, it grew to a large sword that the Eva could use. Kensuke gave a gasp as he knew it was the same looking sword that the new kid had. "Look Toji, the kid you fought earlier had the same sword!"

Back to the Eva, Shinji smiled as he could feel the power of the sword flow through him. "Ok angel, this ends now!"

Unit one launched itself at the angel as it floated back in surprise. It then lashed out with it's whips in an attempt to stop it's enemies assault. Shinji brought the sword up and sliced the whips completely off, eliciting a shriek from the angel. Before it could retaliate though, Shinji jumped past the angel as he swung the sword in a wide arc. Shinji landed several blocks away in a crouch. The two enemies then turned around and faced each other, preparing to engage once again. The angel then regrew it's whips but then suddenly froze as it's enemy turned around and began walking away.

"What the hell is he doing?!" yelled an irate doctor Akagi. But before she could berate the pilot, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and saw a serious looking Misato as she continued to look at the screen. "It's because it's already dead Ritz. It just hasn't realized it yet."

True to what she said, the angel began to float forward after it's enemy to suddenly halt. A few seconds went by as a diagonal seam became visible along it's body and the center of it's core. Then the upper half of it's body fell off and landed in the streets below.

The three by the shelter entrance gawked at the sight they just saw. Toji was the first to speak as he shook his head clear of what he just saw. "And I thought he was running away, guess I was wrong about him."

* * *

Meanwhile, in a lost and ruined pyramid. An individual was trying his best to rest on the stone slab in his chamber. This rest though, was suddenly disturbed as he heard a set of voices that he had not heard in centuries.

'**It has returned… it has returned…'**

Startled awake, the old man laying on the slab got up and approached the cauldron in the middle of the room. "Ancient spirits? It is you? Tell me, what has made you return, oh great ones?"

Without hearing a response, the cauldron cleared a bit of the slime and algae. It then began showing images of the Evangelion fighting the angel. The fight was looking bleak for the unit as it looked like it was beaten. Then the old man gave a gasp as he saw a sword fly to the Eva and grow to a size to be used by the Eva. But it was not the fact of a sword growing that sent a chill down the decrepit spine of his, it was the sword itself that did. "No!" He roared loud enough that the room shook a little.

"This cannot be! The Thundercats are no more! There should be no one able to wield the Sword of Omens! How is this possible?!"

Then the image changed, showing the pilot of the Evangelion. That was when a growl could be heard from the boy as he saw the glowing symbol on his chest. Whisking his arm over the image, it faded away from the old man's view. He then trudged toward a door towards the back of the room and entered it. He stepped into a small chamber and walked past what looked to be many artifacts. He looked at each one, memories of encounters that the Thundercats had with various creatures and enemies. He passed a metal clubbed, one used by one that was once one of their kind. He also passed by a pair of daggers that had a pair of eyes in the hilts that belonged to what was once allies in his struggle against his greatest foes. He ignored all these as he approached a slab at the very end of the hall.

On top of the slab laid a sword that had a handle between two blades. The hilt was golden and had two snakes intertwined. The old man picked up the sword and gave it a look over. As he held the sword, he leered at the wall in thought. "This could prove disastrous for my plans if they are restored. Just maybe, I could put a stop to this before this becomes a problem. I will not allow them to stop my plans! I will put an end to this! I must prepare, for in the end, it will be I who will win! I who will be all powerful! And not even the Sword of Omens can stop MummRa, the Ever Living!"

_This does it for this chapter of Sword of Omens! I hope you all liked this chapter. Now for the big news on this chapter's update. The next update will not be for awhile. Probably for a month or so. The reason for this though is not a bad reason. The next update will be a five part update! The title of the chapter will be Thundercats-Ho! for a tribute to my personal favorite five part Thundercat episode! So it's going to take me some time to write the five chapters so that's the reason for the long update. I'm personally excited for this next chapter because it will contain the fifth angel, return to cats lair, and an actual battle between Shinji and the most bad ass mummy of all time! Yes, the next chapter will be a big cornerstone on the story. Plus, there will be a big surprise at the very end of the chapter! Until the next chapter then, take care all!_


	4. Thundercats! Ho! Pt1

_Finally a chapter! I know it's been months since any update from me, but I had my computer crash on me so it took me awhile to get a new one. Unfortunately, update are still going to be far and in between, as between life and work is taking almost all my time. Also I was only able to get part one of 5 up, as when my computer crashed it took all my saved documents with it. I'll try to get an update up every once in awhile, but it's going to take a bit, especially since I have so many stories. This chapter actually focuses on Rei a bit more and might seem a little out of character, but considering what happens in this chapter I'd say it's justified. Well, I hope you enjoy this installment of Sword of Omens! Please read and review!_

* * *

_Chapter 4_

Thundercats! Ho! Part one

Shinji looked up in awe at the giant tarped body of the fourth angel. "So, this is what the enemy looks like up close?" he asked as he turned his attention to the scientist both he and Misato had come to visit. Currently, the woman was up on a cat walk muttering about how Shinji's sword had damaged the specimen and was making her job a lot harder.

Misato gave out a sigh at her friends attitude towards the sword. Ritsuko had hated the sword, as it had no doubt been the key to defeating the angels as the evangelion was not enough. All her work and planning seemed to be for nothing, as Misato had wondered if Shinji really needed the Eva when using the sword. But Misato dare not bring up that suggestion as it would trigger the doctor's wraith. But at the same time, Ritsuko almost had an unhealthy attraction to the sword. For the past few weeks, she had been begging Shinji to let her "borrow" the sword to study. At times Misato wondered if her friend was not losing it little by little.

Misato looked up to Ritsuko and shook her head as she continued her rant. "Look at this! A perfect specimen, ruined! This is going to take many more months to shift through this incomplete data!"

Misato gave a sigh, "Look! It's dead, right? So, have you found anything out?"

**601**

Misato looked at the code displayed on the computer, "What's that mean?"

Ritsuko leaned back in her seat as she began to rub the bridge of her nose. "That's our system code for 'cannot be analyzed'."

Misato took a sip from her cup as she turned to Ritsuko, "You mean you have no idea what this is?"

Ritsuko slumped slightly in her chair at the confirmation of her disappointment. "Yeah. What we do know is that the angel and Shinji's sword share many of the similarities that make it impossible for us to analyze them."

Misato took a side glance at Ritsuko, "But you've at least found it's power source, right?"

Ritsuko brought her hand up to her chin, "Yes and no, we know that the gem seems to provide power to all of the sword and seems to expand energy, allowing it to grow to such sizes."

Misato almost fell on her face, "I meant the freaking angels you twit!"

"Oh… umm, yea, we think we found it…" replied a blushing Ritsuko. But before she could say anything else to incriminate herself, she noticed Shinji looking out the door and nodded in the boy's direction. Misato turned to Shinji and saw the confused look in his eyes. "What's wrong?" Misato asked.

Shinji jumped in surprise and turned to the other two ladies. He had just been staring at his father who had just passed the room a few minutes prior. But what had caught his attention wasn't his presence, but the burns on his ungloved hands as his father was inspecting the bottom half of the angel core. For a moment he considered saying it was nothing, but decided against it. "It's just… well, my father seems to have burned his hands. I was wondering how it happened?"

"Burned them?" Misato asked as she gave a blank stare at Shinji before turning to Ritsuko, "You know how he burned them?"

Ritsuko nodded her head, "It was before you joined us. You know how Unit Zero went berserk during it's activation trials right?"

"Yeah," Shinji replied, "That girl, Rei Ayanami, was she the pilot?"

Ritsuko gave another nod to Shinji, "Yes, and it was the commander who opened the superheated hatch with his bare hands to try to save her."

Shinji stood stunned and looked back out the hall in time to see his father retreating while putting his gloves back on. Before he could ask or say anything else, he was pushed out the door by Misato. By the time he turned around, Misato was already closing the door to the room, "Could you wait for me outside by the car please Shinji, I need to ask Ritsuko for some advice. It won't take long, just a few moments, thanks!"

Before she could even get a response from him, she slammed the door shut and locked it. Giving a sigh, Shinji left and headed for the car.

"So Misato, your not going to ask me for advice on boyfriends are you?" chuckled Ritsuko as she took a sip of her own cup. Her smile soon faded once she saw how serious Misato was as she leaned against the door. "Ok, what's wrong?"

Misato bit her lower lip and began to play with the bottom hem of her shirt, "Well, promise you won't freak out or turn me into a lab experiment?"

Ritsuko raised an eyebrow, "Ok…?"

Misato let out a deep sigh as she grabbed the bottom of her shirt and lifted it over her head, exposing herself to the doctor. Ritsuko's eyebrow raised higher as she looked at her friend, "Ok… so what? You've been working out, big deal. But what is up with that rash?"

Misato let out another sigh as she looked down at herself. She currently had a perfect six pack and between her breasts was a perfectly round red and black looking rash. "Well for one Ritsuko, both the rash and the six pack weren't there two days ago. Also, take a look at the rash a little closer."

Ritsuko tilted her head slightly in confusion and leaned forward. She began to study the rash and the gave a gasp. Quickly getting up from her chair, she went to a desk that was cluttered with papers and began searching contently until she pulled a photo out. She then came back to Misato and held up a picture taken of Shinji's sword during the last battle and compared the two. After looking at the two, she slumped back into her chair and looked at Misato dumbfounded, "What symptoms have you been experiencing since that began to show up?"

Misato put her shirt back on and sat in a chair as she began to recall the past few days. "Well, I haven't been feeling bad or anything. On the contrary, I've been feeling good. I feel like I can run a marathon, and I've even been getting up with a pep in my step in the morning. Plus my body has either gotten muscles or toned out the ones I had before. It's kinda weird."

Ritsuko raised her eyebrow again at her friend while scratching her head, "So you've actually had the opposite happen to you? I wonder if it's contagious?"

Misato almost fell out of her chair when she heard her friend say that, "You're an ass!"

Ritsuko gave a laugh as she held up her hands, "Hey, I'm just saying that you feel awesome and have gotten healthier in just the past few days. Hell, I'd probably want to study you, for all I know you might have the cure to cancer or something. But don't worry, as long as that's it, you don't have anything to worry about. Unless… you forgot to tell me something…?" As Ritsuko said the last part, she began to leer at Misato. Misato began to look around the room and rub her arm, trying her best to avoid the glare from the doctor. "Grr… What did you not tell me?! Misato!"

Misato jumped at her friends yell. "Ok, ok. Well, you know how I said that there was that cat guy from my dream and cat guy ghost at my apartment?"

After receiving a nod from her friend, Misato continued, "Well, they both had this symbol on them. And then there is the fact the ghost told Shinji that they were called Thundercats. And supposedly the ghost told Shinji he was now the lord of the Thundercats and was now their leader."

Ritsuko gave a blank stare at her friend. After about twenty seconds of just staring at her, Ritsuko suddenly burst into laughter. This of course only earned a scowl from Misato. "Stop it!"

Ritsuko began to calm down as she tried talking to her friend, "You're telling me… haha… that Shinji is… ha… a leader of some long dead aliens? Seriously Misato, you need a vacation."

Misato continued to scowl at her friend making fun of her, "It's just that the ghost said that you didn't need to be a cat person to be a Thundercat. Just someone that's a hero or something. And what's got me worried is the fact that they don't exist anymore, so something had to take them out."

Ritsuko stopped in mid giggle and went wide eyed at Misato's words. "Their enemies…" she whispered.

Misato gave a nod to the doctor, "Exactly. Even though they might be long gone, what's stopping them from coming back when these Thundercats can come back just like that? And now both me and Shinji appear to be caught up in all this. See the problem?"

Ritsuko leaned back in her chair deep in thought, "Well, I guess you have no choice but to do what the dream said, huh? Look, either way he's our only pilot right now. So whether or not he's a leader of an alien race, foremost he's our pilot. So unless you grow some cat ears or something, I wouldn't worry about it for now."

Misato gave a nod to her friend as she began to walk to the door. As she was about to open it, Ritsuko spoke up again, "Remember who your allegiances are Misato. The angels are our biggest threat, this Thundercat business is only a consolation."

Misato turned back to Ritsuko with a small scowl on her face. It wasn't much, but it spoke volumes as she turned back around and left the tiny office.

* * *

Rei Ayanami stood before the cracked mirror in her apartment and continued to stare absently into it. She was currently standing naked in front of it as she couldn't tear herself from it. She couldn't even move to pick up the broken glass shards that were laying on the floor from the now broken mirror. No, none of that mattered now as she continued to look at what looked to be a rash on her once perfect stomach.

She narrowed her eyes at the rash, not because the fact that it was so predominate on her pale skin, but because of the shape it had taken. It was a perfect round circle with black in the middle that to most normal people would not mean anything. But to someone from NERV, they would instantly recognize it as a fuzzy version of the cat's head from the third child's sword. She ground her teeth as she continued to look at it, then smashed her hand into the mirror, again cracking and sending more shards to the floor.

"No," she whispered, "I'll… I'll be replaced now. The commander will replace me once he finds out. I don't want to die. Why can't you go away."

As if hearing her words, the symbol glowed a bright red for a few seconds and then receded into her skin. Rei blinked in surprise as she watched it disappear. Soon, it was completely gone and no evidence could be seen on her of the symbol. "Are you gone for good?"

'**It will never be gone from you Rei.'**

The first child gave a gasp as she looked around for the voice. She knew it was the same voice from her dream and the very same voice that stopped her from taking any action when Shinji was jumped by the group of kids at school. As she could not find anyone, she returned to the mirror and ran her fingers across her stomach. As her fingers moved across her skin, she could see the symbol come back, but not as a blurry rash. No, this time it came back sharp and clear, brighter and more predominant.

'**It will forever be a part of you Rei,' **continued the voice, **'It will always be there for you, just how you are there for humanity. It will hide itself till the appropriate time, to protect you from those who wish death and destruction. It is a symbol of hope and peace. Of justice and truth. Of honor and loyalty. It is a symbol of all of these, just as you are, as a Thundercat.'**

Rei's eyes widened as she continued to stare at the symbol on her stomach with shock. "I… am a Thundercat?" she asked with a shaken voice. She recalled from her dream that the man had the very symbol on him. He radiated strength and command, yet warmth and kindness. She returned her attention to her stomach as she began to piece together clues, "The third, he is the lord of the Thundercats. He is my lord. I… I have to protect him?"

'**This is correct Rei,' **Responded the voice, **'Shinji is the new lord of the Thundercats. Part of your responsibility is to protect him and help him bring peace to your world. Through him is your new purpose, the purpose to protect all from evil. This purpose will provide humanities salvation, not it's destruction, as third impact would.'**

Rei's eyes widened at the mention of instrumentality. She had not given it a moments thought as to what this symbol on her stomach would mean to the project. She mindlessly walked from her bathroom to her bedroom, still deep in thought. As she reached her dresser, she looked down to the pair of warped glasses sitting on top. She picked them up and looked at them intently, "Even if I am not replaced and instrumentality goes as planned, all of humanity's bodies will perish. Those that are able to resist it will have both their bodies and souls lost. But if I choose this new path, this new purpose, there might be hope left. The third… no, Shinji might be able to change things. Maybe… maybe these Thundercats can change things."

Rei gripped the glasses in her hands tighter as she continued to have doubts of the commander's plans. She looked down at them, and could not help but narrow her eyes in anger as she crushed the bent frame in her hands. Her bottom lip even began to tremble as she begun to let her grip go and watched as the pieces fell to the ground. The symbol of her all out devotion to her commander hit the floor with a clatter as she stood silently watching the pieces become still. Taking in a breath and releasing it, she turned around and began to walk away slowly from the glasses. As she was about to enter her bathroom again, a small whisper came from the albino child, "I now have my purpose."

* * *

Shinji gave a sigh as he looked on at the ground in thought. He currently was sitting on the dirt ground as everyone else was enjoying playing basketball during gym class. But even during gym class, he couldn't tear himself away from his thoughts as he kept pondering on his father's actions towards her._ 'What is she to you father,'_ He thought, _'I know you don't do anything without a reason, so why? What part does she play in your little game?'_

Shinji was then brought out of his train of thought as a shadow enveloped him. Looking up, he could see that the shadow belonged to the boy from his class that he had initially fought a few days prior. Behind the track suit wearing boy was the boy from his class that had an unhealthy obsession with NERV.

"Um, hey there new kid, I wanted to apologize for coming after ya like that." Stuttered the boy as he glanced over at a glaring Hikari, "I shouldn't have blamed you for what happened to my sister."

Catching the direction of the boy's gaze, Shinji looked at him with apprehension. "You're just saying that because she made you huh?"

The boy curled his hand into a fist, "Well what do you expect, your suppose to be trained for stuff like that, and you go and act like some rookie when you're in that machine!"

Shinji looked down at the ground as he expelled a breath. He now understood why he was angry. The boy thought he had training before the angel battle. "Well that's the problem you see, I had no training before that fight. Hell, I didn't even know NERV existed till that very day."

The two boys gasped in shock and looked at each other. Then the freckled boy stepped between the two, "You mean you went into that battle blindly!?"

After Shinji gave a nod, both the other two boys looked at each other with a look of shame on their faces. Finally the first boy took a closer step to Shinji as he held out his hand. "Sorry, we didn't know. My name is Toji, and this is Kensuke, my best friend."

Shinji gave a smile as he could see it in the Toji's face that he truly meant it. "I'm Shinji Ikari," he said as he took Toji's hand and was helped up. As the gym teacher blew their whistle, signaling the end of class, Shinji somehow knew that he was just starting to find his place in this crazy world.

* * *

Rei gave a sigh as she floated in the LCL chamber. She was actually surprised at herself at her reaction when she had first entered the plug. Normally she would not pay any attention to the LCL, but this time, it was different. This time, she could barely stand it. _'Is this a product of the symbol?' _she wondered as she could do everything in her power from screaming for escape.

'**Not quite Rei.'**

Her eyes snapped wide as she heard the familiar voice. _'It's you! The spirit!' _

All she could hear in her head was a rich bellow of a laugh, **'Please Rei, call me Panthro. But what you are experiencing is not anyone's doing but your own. Now that you have a purpose to live, and not just waiting to die, you are taking things into a new perspective.'**

She looked at the glass in front of her and placed a hand on it and finally took notice of the other sole occupant in the room, Dr. Akagi. She looked on in confusion as she appeared to be standing and looking off in the distance in fear, as if she was stunned.

'_Panthro, what is wrong with doctor Akagi?' _Rei asked as she continued to see the doctor acting strangely.

'**Even though the Thundercat symbol can hide itself, human technology can still piece together things and can make conclusions. So someone is just having a little chat with her…'**

Five minutes earlier…

Ritsuko hunched over the monitor in shock. She tore her eyes from the screen and looked at the naked form of the first child floating in the LCL chamber. Turning back, her mind began to race at what the information could mean. _'Thirteen percent increase in muscle mass, three percent decrease in body fat! Possible repair of her reproductive organs and signs of her S2 organ buckling! Her clones are starting to even show signs of internal organs breaking down from the inside! What's going on?! Unless… it couldn't be… the sword!'_

As she reared her head back up to gaze again at the child, she was nowhere to be found. For that matter, none of the lab could be found as she found herself standing in the middle of a courtyard. She then looked behind her and stood in fear and awe, as before her was a giant fortress, one in the shape of a cat. She looked in awe and began to shake as she eyed the cat's head contrasting against the blue sky, "This… this can't be happening…"

"I'm sorry for the sudden intrusion, but we must talk doctor."

Ritsuko twirled around and saw a man standing there, but at a second glance she could see he was no ordinary man. He wore red and black clothes that were skin tight, showing the many muscles he had. She could tell he was quite old, older then Gendo Ikari himself, as his beard and wrinkles showed. He had a bandana on his head that seemed to highlight his baldness in a strange good way. She immediately knew he had to be one of the cat people Misato had talked about, as he had the facial features of a cat. That was when she realized his eyes; they were shut close. As she eyed them she gave a small, quick breath as she realized he must have been blind.

The man's ears suddenly twitched as the small, unnoticeable by many, breath made it's way to his ears. "Excuse the pun, but I see you noticed my little predicament."

Ritsuko's eyes grew larger as he said that. _'How did he know? I didn't say anything. Could he be psychic?'_

She then took a few quite steps to the left and watched in awe as his head followed her direction to a perfect tee. Before she could say anything though, he gave a smirk, " To answer the question you probably have, no. I have no mental powers. My lost of sight has granted me the ability to refine my other senses to the point where I can feel the vibrations in the air of you moving, hear your breath, smell your scent. I can even feel and hear your heartbeat from here."

Ritsuko blinked several times at the man and realized there was no point in either fighting or running, as if this was true he could easily foil her attempts with the way he was built. "S-so what do you want?" she hissed at the aged cat.

Another smirk appeared on his face. "Just a little chat, let's make things more comfortable for you and change the scenery a bit shall we?"

In a blink of an eye, Ritsuko found herself standing in a round control room of some sort. She looked around in amazement at all the instruments in a sense of awe and amazement. It was a perfectly round room that had a wide window and view of a forest and a near by mountain face. Just by the shape alone she knew it couldn't be the cat's head because of the round view it gave. A clatter suddenly turned her attention back to the man as he had somewhat fallen into a chair and panting with exertion. Torn between her fear and wanting to help, she saw him sit up in the chair and noticed him sweating and panting a bit. "If… I would have known that would have taken that much effort… I probably wouldn't have done it. That was a bit foolish of me. But never mind that, I'm now short on time and we have much to discuss. First off, you must protect the girl's secret."

Ritsuko looked in confusion and worrisome as he continued to pant. "What secret?"

The man shook his head, "Let's not play games doctor, we don't have time for that. You know her secret, she's just like Shinji and his guardian. She is a Thundercat."

Ritsuko frowned at the old man. "Did you do this? Are you the one responsible for everything?" she demanded.

The old cat merely shook his head, "Not I, it was actually her own doing. She unlocked it and has taken hold of her destiny. A destiny that doesn't involve the disturbing thought of instrumentality."

Ritsuko gave a gasp, "How do you know of the instrumentality project?!"

"I don't, I only know a fraction of it from what my colleagues have told me. I don't have their benefit of knowing everything like they do. All I know is that it has to be unfathomable for Lion-o to take such action and lend me some of his strength to have this talk with you."

An eyebrow perked up on Ritsuko as she heard this, "What do you mean? You're not like the rest?"

A shake of the head told her the answer she was looking for. "All I know is what kind of person she is, that she was part of some master plan, and that you are her salvation. My colleague told me all about her, and I pity the poor girl. That's why she needs you."

Now intrigued, the doctor took a seat next to the man, as his speech was becoming labored and difficult to understand. "Explain yourself, what do you mean exactly?"

The man looked up to face her, "She was on her deathbed her whole life, waiting on the moment her death would come and she would be used for the purpose that she was destined for. But now, now things are different. She has been reborn and is now living life. It is just as if she was just born, she is relearning everything from a different perspective now. A perspective that has her confused, scared, and most importantly; alone. She needs you doctor, for whether you like it or not, you are the closest thing to a mother she has. I beg you, at least till we meet again, take care of her and protect her. If by the next time we meet you do not wish to continue to watch her, I shall take over the responsibility."

Ritsuko inched even closer to the man as his breath was becoming shallower by the minute, "What do you mean by next time we meet you'll take over? You're dead aren't you old man"

The man gave one last smile before the control center around them began to get fuzzy, "Well there is only one way to find out, isn't there doctor Akagi? And by the way, I'm not… old man, my… name is… Lynx-o…"

And with that last breath, everything faded back to the laboratory back in NERV. Ritsuko fell forward on to the floor, as there was no longer a chair to support her. As she fell on the ground, a buzzer went off and the tube holding the albino child opened, dumping LCL and the child to the ground in front of her. Recovering from the shock, Ritsuko looked up to see the first child violently vomiting up LCL. The child then looked up and met eyes with the doctor as they both began panting from the their own experience rush. Without even thinking or realizing what she was doing, Ritsuko scooted next to the child, took off her coat, and covered the shivering form of the first child. Just as the child began to began to finally calm down, the blaring of sirens could be heard deep within the bowls of the lab.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

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_I hope you all liked the chapter. I'll try my best to get updates up as soon as I can but no promises as life is a rollercoaster of a ride for me right now. Until next time though take care!_


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